New York
by donatar3
Summary: Rachel and Kurt are finally at NYADA, living the dream. But is being a star really all it seems? And how will Finn cope when he's constantly being neglected by his girlfriend?


A/N: Hey this is my first sister fic of Season 4. It's called New York because it follows Finn, Rachel and Kurt in New York. The song included in this chapter is Mama Who Bore Me from Spring Awakening, which of course, Lea Michele sang in the original Broadway production.

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, it belongs to RIB and Fox.

Plot Summary: Rachel and Kurt are finally at NYADA, living the dream. But is being a star really all it seems? And how will Finn cope when his girlfriend is constantly neglecting him?

Finn gazed out of the window and looked down on the ant-like people of New York scurrying about 7 storeys below. He had been living in the city for a month and still he couldn't leave the apartment without Rachel or Kurt out of fear of getting lost. He sighed and left the window. If he had it his way, he'd have been recruited to play at Ohio State or he would have gotten into NYADA like his stepbrother and girlfriend. Instead, he was living with the pair of them in the city, starting community college in a week and constantly looking for a job. It was bad enough that he was a homebird and wished he was back in Ohio but he also had the responsibility of providing for himself and his roommates.

He noticed his cell phone sitting on the ridiculous coffee table Kurt demanded that they buy and checked it for messages. To his surprise, he had two. He sat down on the sofa and listened to them. The first was from Mike, a pleasant surprise!

"Hey Finn, it's Mike. Just calling from LA to see how you guys are doing in the Big Apple? I'm having an amazing time even though Mercedes keeps complaining about Shane being in Ohio. I'm more worried about Brittany though - she still hasn't heard from Santana! We still don't know why she isn't here. Call me when you get a chance and definitely if you hear anything about her. Tina hasn't seen her in Lima; maybe your Mom or Kurt's Dad did? I'll talk to you soon! Bye!"

That's odd, Finn thought, what is up with Santana? She had gotten into UCLA just like Mike, Brittany and Mercedes. Or at least she said she did. He made a mental note to ask his Mom and Burt if they'd seen her like Mike said. He looked back at his phone and saw the other message was from Rachel. There seemed to be a lot of noise around her because he found it hard to hear her properly.

"Hey honey, just calling to rain check on our plans tonight, Kurt just scored tickets to Wicked in the Gershwin! I'll call you later, bye!"

Finn groaned in annoyance. That was about the tenth time Rachel had cancelled their plans since they moved to New York and seven of those times, she and Kurt had gone to Wicked in the Gershwin Theatre. He had been looking forward to the date all week - they were going to Sardi's, the same place they had gone the first time they came to New York for Nationals in 2011. The came in 12th place that time and the year after they came 4th, barely qualifying for the first ever Internationals, in which they were by far the underdogs. Yet somehow, to the shock of everyone, they managed to win the competition, beating even Vocal Adrenaline who had won Nationals that year. They graduated on a high, but ever since, Finn struggled to find joy in his pathetic day-to-day life.

Feeling unappreciated, he headed off for his bed to lie down. It was going to be a tough year for Finn Hudson...indefinitely!

* * *

><p>"I'll call you later, bye!" Rachel stuffed her phone back into her handbag and turned to her best friend. "Ready to go?" Kurt looked up from his phone with exasperation all over his face that she made her burst out laughing because she knew exactly why he was annoyed.<p>

"Ready to go?" He asked sarcastically. "I've been ready to go for the last 20 minutes while you tried and failed to make up your mind about whether to come with me to the greatest musical of all time or to go to a boring dinner you could go to anytime you want to with your boyfriend. Thank goodness you made the right choice...eventually." He made sure to put a lot of emphasis on the last word. Rachel just giggled and said, "Alright, alright let's just go!" but she couldn't help but feel really bad that she had let Finn down. Again.

They left the busy NYADA campus and a half an hour later they were in the queue waiting outside the Gershwin and Rachel tried to hold in the laughter while Kurt criticised the outfits of the people around them. Just then, a perky, pretty girl approached them. She was about the same height as Kurt and had brown hair with blonde streaks through it. She was wearing an elegant red dress, clearly to impress a certain someone.

"Hey guys, I thought I saw you two up here," she said. "How's it going?" Kurt looked genuinely happy to see her but Rachel didn't particularly have mutual feelings towards the girl. "Jennifer," Kurt exclaimed. "We're fine. Are you here to see Wicked?" Jennifer was another student at NYADA and Kurt seemed to get along well with her. Rachel on the other hand, saw her as nothing more than competition and tough competition at that. As much as Rachel hated to admit it, Jennifer was an amazing singer and had the potential to be a great actress, meaning she was a huge threat to her.

"You bet I am," she grinned, playfully punching Kurt's arm. "I'm here on a date, with Joey!" Rachel honestly tried to hold in a snort of disbelief but she simply wasn't able to keep it in. Both Jennifer and Kurt looked at her in surprise and she tried to make a face at Kurt. Joey Smith was another freshman at NYADA and was most certainly gay in Rachel's eyes. He was like the New Jersey version of Kurt.

"Well it was good to see you Kurt," Jennifer said, clearly embarrassed. "Bye Rachel." She walked back down the queue and once she was out of earshot Kurt turned on Rachel. "What the hell did you do that for? Jennifer's really nice, Rachel!" Rachel was taken aback. She couldn't believe Kurt was annoyed at her. "I just thought it was ridiculous that she's on a date with Joey, he's clearly gay Kurt. You said it yourself." Kurt shook his head, still mad at her. "Jennifer was the one who got us the tickets. You shouldn't have said anything to her."

"I didn't say anything," she cried. "I snorted!" Kurt was about to reply but they were at the top of the queue so they had to go in. They got their seats and remained silent. For the first time ever, neither of them sang along to Wicked when they saw it live.

* * *

><p>Finn was still awake when they returned to the apartment but he didn't bother getting out of bed to greet them. He was pretty mad with Rachel, and Kurt wasn't his favourite person at the moment either. He could hear what they were saying because their voices were raised; they seemed to be arguing.<p>

"I just don't understand why you're making such a big deal out of this!" Rachel was saying. "Because you act like this everytime we meet someone new! Whenever I try to make a new friend, you drive them off because they're talented!" And with that response from Kurt, Rachel was silent for a moment and Finn could picture the shocked, offended look she would have on her face. A door slammed and the argument was over, for now anyway.

Finn heard the door open and Rachel sigh as she stepped into their bedroom. At first she had been apprehensive about sharing a room with him even though they had already had sex three times: the first after the opening of West Side Story the previous November, the second after they found out they had gotten through to Internationals, and the third time was after Finn told her that he was coming to New York with her after graduation. They hadn't done it since then, and with the way she had been treating him lately, he doubted that they would do it anytime soon. He had been hoping that tonight would be the night, after their romantic dinner at Sardi's and a stroll back to the apartment, but sadly none of that happened.

He felt her lift the duvet and get in next to him. She didn't utter a word to him, no apology for standing him up once again. They may have been in the same bed, but Finn felt that they had never been further apart.

* * *

><p>The morning after the fight, Kurt got up early so that he could leave before Rachel got up meaning he wouldn't have to go with or speak to her. Besides, they were in the middle of a musical theatre module and he wanted to get a good seat so that he might get picked to do a solo as an example. It had been too long since he had sung in front of an audience, the last time was Internationals and he was off the high of winning that at this stage. He had his eyes set firmly on succeeding in musical theatre now. He ate a light, low-carb breakfast, as usual, and managed to get out the door just as he heard someone moving around in Finn and Rachel's bedroom.<p>

Kurt arrived at the lecture hall early but he couldn't care less. This was valuable time that he could spend picking a song that he could sing if called upon to sing. At first his thoughts went straight to the Wicked catalogue and of course Defying Gravity was his best bet of impressing everyone. However he was definitely in the mood for a more anger-filled song. He took out his iPhone, and looked at the note that contained the names of his favourite songs and began looking for one that suited this mood. He heard the door of the hall open and turned around to see Jennifer come in. She noticed him instantly and rushed down to join him.

"Hey Kurt..." she began but must have noticed the distressed look on his face and was unsure if he wanted a conversation. Kurt shrugged in response and took his bag off the seat next to him signalling she could sit beside him. "I'm sorry if I annoyed you and Rachel last night..." He interrupted her with a snort that was as bad as Rachel's last night. "Jennifer, you have nothing to apologize for," he said coolly. "It's not your fault I'm in a bad mood. It is the fault of the person who is supposed to be my best friend, but seems to just embarrass me all the time."

Their musical theatre lecturer, Mrs. Parker walked in and looked surprised that they were there so early but the rest of their class soon sauntered in until the hall was full. Just before the Mrs. Parker began to speak Kurt heard the door open a final time and the whole room turned to see Rachel rush in with her hair a mess and fresh tear-stained mascara running down her face. She must have fought with Finn before coming here, but Kurt couldn't say he cared.

* * *

><p>Rachel took the only remaining seat at the back of the room and tried to clean herself up while also trying to listen to Mrs. Parker. She had had a huge fight with Finn about cancelling their date and had only just made it here on time. Once she was satisfied that she looked less of a mess she gave her whole focus to the middle-aged woman at the front of the hall. She was talking about the importance of feeling emotion in songs but not letting the emotion take control of your performance. Rachel rolled her eyes, wishing she'd be thought something she didn't know instead of these basics. When she looked back at the front she noticed that Mrs. Parker and the class were looking at her.<p>

"Excuse me young lady," Mrs. Parker said sarcastically. "Do you think you could give this lecture better than me?" Rachel almost said yes in an equally sarcastic tone but stopped herself just in time. "Well go ahead, be my guest," Mrs. Parker smiled evilly. Blushing bright red with embarrassment, Rachel got up and walked down to the stage at the front of the room. She noticed Kurt sitting beside Jennifer in the front row. He didn't look happy but Rachel couldn't say she was either at his evident betrayal.

Rachel faced the class and wished she had someone to talk to now that Finn and Kurt weren't talking to her. It was then that she thought of Shelby and how that she might be able to get by if she had a mother to discuss her problems with. That gave her an idea of what to say, or rather, sing to the class. "Well I think the best way to give a lecture on an emotional performance would be to give you all an example." With that, she took centre stage and began.

_Mama who bore me_

_Mama who gave me_

_No way to handle things_

_Who made me so sad_

_Mama, the weeping_  
><em>Mama, the angels<em>  
><em>No sleep in Heaven, or Bethlehem<em>

Rachel caught Kurt's eye but he looked away quickly in anger, so she continued.

_Some pray that one day_  
><em>Christ will come a'-callin'<em>  
><em>They light a candle<em>  
><em>And hope that it glows<em>  
><em>And some just lie there<em>  
><em>Crying for him to come and find them<em>  
><em>But when he comes they don't know how to go<em>

_Mama who bore me_  
><em>Mama who gave me<em>  
><em>No way to handle things<em>  
><em>Who made me so bad<em>

_Mama, the weeping_  
><em>Mama, the angels<em>  
><em>No sleep in Heaven, or Bethlehem<em>

For a second there was silence, and then the hall was filled with applause and everyone except Kurt and Mrs. Parker stood up. When the noise had died down and everyone had taken their seats Mrs. Parker stood up and walked towards her. Rachel was expecting the worst but was relieved when the woman smiled and said, "Now that's how you control emotion Ms. Berry." The class all laughed along with Rachel except Kurt who stood up and exclaimed, "I'd like to show Ms. Berry how to really control emotion. Well I already have by not screaming at her whenever I see her, but I'd also like to sing." The class murmured in excitement and Rachel was shocked that Kurt was that mad at her.

"Be my guest, Mr. Hummel," Mrs. Parker said, amused. Rachel walked off the stage and when she passed Kurt, he didn't even look at her. She sat in his now vacant seat beside Jennifer who was trying not to look like she felt extremely awkward. Kurt stood where she had been standing, and looking directly at her said, "I'll be singing Anything You Can Do, I **Can **Do Better."


End file.
